EaseMyTrip (EMT) has introduced an exclusive feature— Airplane Chat on its Android mobile app which allows co-passengers to talk among themselves in offline mode during the course of the flight
The latest product feature introduced by EMT aims to break the monotony of the journeys by air where the passengers are requested to keep their phone on flight mode. With the Airplane Chat, passengers can now chat with their co-passengers using the Android app via Bluetooth. Commenting on the same the company’s co-founder, Nishant Pitti, said, “Long-haul flights happened to be really boring for us and even in-flight entertainment could not help in killing time during the journeys. So, I always used to think that there should be something that not just keeps us engaged but can also help in networking with like-minded people. This idea clicked into our mind when I along with my brothers Rikant and Prashant were discussing the same thing and finally agreed to develop a tool that may help the travellers in spending their travel time comfortably.”
A major distinguishing feature of EMT from its competitors is that the company does not charge any convenience fee for flight bookings. Pitti points out that the app receives around 1200-1300 bookings daily due to its excellent deals on flight tickets. While the airline segment contributes around 75 per cent of the business, Pitti identifies the corporate sales, meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions as one of the emerging segments for the company, where these segments contribute around 12 percent to the company’s overall business.
During 2017-18, EMT achieved a turnover of Rs 2,400 crore. Pitti informs that the company has seen a consistent growth since its inception in 2008 without raising any funds from investors. A market leader in flight bookings for all major domestic and international destinations, EMT represents almost 5-6 per cent of the domestic market share and around 12 per cent of the total online market. “Of the total business, almost 85 per cent comes from the online market where customers book directly with us on the website or the app whereas 10-15 per cent comes from travel agents. The B2B segment is a very strong pillar for the company. We have an extended arm of over 42,000 travel agents who book tickets on our online platform. We have identified some high footfall areas like paan shops, cyber cafes and small retail shops and offered them our branding to sell travel products, thus extending the reach of the company,” added Pitti.
Though the company started as a predominantly flights provider, it now has an array of diversified offerings which include hotels, bus tickets, holiday packages and railways. “We have integrated the IRCTC platform into our online portal and now offer rail ticket bookings as well. The travel agents are provided with a login-id and an EMT wallet which they can integrate with other wallets,” said Pitti.
The growth plan of EMT looks robust and very promising. The company plans to focus on its corporate business for the upcoming years and is also planning to reach out to a huge segment of SMEs across Tier-II and Tier-III cities.“We also have plans to open EMT Holiday Hubs in all major cities to increase revenues from non-air products,” he said.
